Powell Butte Cinder Cone EarthCache
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Powell Butte Cinder Cone "Climb A Volcano!" The coordinates will
take you to the summit of Powell Butte a Plio-Pleistocene cinder
cone of the Boring Lavas. On a clear day you can spot Mount St.
Helens, Mount Hood, Mount Adams and Mount Jefferson. I recommend parking in the main lot (access from SE 162/Powell)
POWELL BUTTE:
Powell Butte is crowned by an open meadow area ringed by forest and is Portland's second-largest park after Forest Park. The meadows of grass, which are sprinkled with apple, pear and walnut trees; and picnic tables are sporadically situated, offering great locales for a midday lunch. With nine miles of trails winding through 608 acres of rolling grasslands, Powell Butte Nature Park is the perfect inner-city getaway. From the gravel parking lot you can choose from a variety of trails, but be sure to read the signs--some allow for bikes and horseback riding. The paths are well-maintained, and some are even paved with new blacktop. Powell Butte is also home to several species of wildlife, including birds, raccoons, foxes, coyotes and deer. This butte is also a major storage facility for Portland's water supply the water tanks are buried beneath the grassy meadows near the main parking area.
BUTTE GEOLOGY:
Powell Butte is an extinct volcanic cinder cone, it is one of three such cones inside the city of Portland, the others being Rocky Butte and Mount Tabor. Rock outcrops are hard to find on powell butte but none the less it is part of the boring lava field, an area of extinct volcanoes which lies just to the southeast of the most dense cluster of lava vents which includes at least 32 and possibly 50 cinder cones and small shield volcanoes. The zone became active at least 2.7 million years ago, and has been extinct for about 300,000 years. The Portland metropolitan area, including suburbs, is one of the few places in the continental United States to have extinct volcanoes within a city's limits; Bend, Oregon is another.
TO CLAIM THIS EARTHCACHE PLEASE DO THE FOLLOWING:
1. Hike, walk, stroll or roll to the posted coordinates:
2. Email the log owner the answers to the following questions: (excluding the photo)
3. Very briefly describe the distant mountainous scenery to the North, South, East, West
4. POST/Upload a photograph of yourself/your crew with the log!
Please do not post the answers to the questions within your log!
*Note: Use your best judgment, all answers are subjective,
no logs will be deleted. You do not have to wait for a confirmation
from me to log your find, I will not respond unless you have a
direct question. Logging a find and posting a picture can be a fun
learning experience so take the time to figure it out. Happy
Earth Caching!!
SOURCES/SITES OF INTEREST:
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Information courtesy Curtis Waterbury, Dan Nelson, and Ron Judd "Portland City-Search" Website
Hours of operation: Fall: 7:00am-8:00pm (September
1-last Saturday in October) Winter: 7:00am-6:00pm (last Sunday in
October-first Saturday in April) Spring: 7:00am-8:00pm (first
Sunday in April-May 31) Summer: 7:00am-10:00pm (June 1-August
31)
Additional Hints
(No hints available.)